This World And That
by ice4blood
Summary: Hayner, one of Santa's elves is bord with the some old work every year. Through an attempt to find some excitement, he is thrust into a strange and dark place full of thrills, chills and tricks with treats. Alternat reality KH's fic.
1. The power of pie

It was the day of Christmas eve in the place thats known as Christmas Town and all Santa's elves were kept busy making toys ,tying tags to packages and singing all day long. "I don't think I can take much more of this". Well... all save for one single solitary elf, who went by the name of Hayner, he sat in his own spot at the work bench in a long line of other elves, painting one rocking horse after another. He sat there slump over his work bench with one elbow holding his head up with his fist whiles his other hand lazily stroked his red dipped paint brush across the wooden horse. He glanced over at his fellow elves happily working away while singing a Christmas carol. "Oh jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to ride on a one horse open slay, oh-"

"Guys"?

"jingle bells"

"Guys"!

"jingle bells"

"Hey guys"!

"jingle all the wa-"

"GUYS! " All the previously singing elves turn as one to look at Hayner the elf with curios faces, but it was the female elf sitting beside him that spoke first. "What's up Hayner"? She enquired while all the other elves waited for a reply. (Still while working of course.) "Well, yes ya see, I don't know if you all realize this but we have been working and singing that same song for going on 12 hours now. So you don't suppose we could do something a little more, I don't know, different...do you"? His two bench friends on both side of him smiled and nodded in understanding. "Yeah that is not a problem". said the female from before. "Really? you don't mind"? Asks Hayner. "Hey, we don't mind shaking it up a bit, right everybody"? Says the slightly chubby elf on Hayner's other side as all the other elves respond in the affirmative..

"Alright guys, let's get frosty". Says the elfette just before everyone (minus Hayner) starts working and singing. Yet again. "Ooh you better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town". At this point Hayner head had both thoroughly and violently met the work bench. "Wow, yeah, thanks guys, totally frosty".

* * *

Hayner and his two friends later sit down for a bite to eat and a nice steaming mug of hot cocoa. "Ah, nothing like a cup of cocoa with a hint of mint after a good days work". Says Hayners female friend. "Yeah, makes me proud to be able to say job well done". Adds his other friend who is a bit on the plump side. "Yeah and to think, after Santa takes off tonight with all the toys we spent the whole year making. We get to start all over again tomorrow for the next year, and the next year after that, and the year after that, and the year after that". Mutters a sarcastic Hayner. "Correct me if I'm wrong but you don't seem all that happy with your work". Says the girl taking a sip of her cocoa. "Oh come on Olette, how can anyone not be happy making the toys that bring joy to all kids on Christmas day"? Says Hayners other friend drinking his own cocoa.

Pence, Olette, look okay its not that I'm not happy making little kids happy and everything. It's just that the whole routine we do every year and all year round, its well, it's gotten boring. I mean to an unbearable level of boring". And with that Hayner slumps forward and rests his chin on his arms folded on the table in front of him. "Wow... Hayner, just... how long have you been feeling this way"? Asks his female friend, who we now know go's by the name of Olette. "I guess about a year maybe give or take a month or two". Says Hayner turning his head to look at his friend Olette. "Boy... this has to be a first. (if only they knew right folks) Hey maybe Santa will know what to-hey look the foods here"! Ever the food lover, the chunky elf known as Pence has little room in his mind for anything else whenever food was present. "Order up. Freshly baked pumpkin pie with a side of vanilla ice cream for three". Another elf girl says as she approaches their table wearing an apron and a cute little chef's hat over an odd hair style that flicked out on both side and she had piercing green eyes. "Oh thanks Selphie, your new pumpkin pie recipe is the best". Says Pence eyeing the crusty dessert. "Thank you Pence, but the recipe is not all that new, we have just recently been getting delivery's of really high quality pumpkins sent here since last year. Ever since then my pumpkin pie popularity has shot up to the elves all time third favorite, just after Christmas pudding and mince pies". Says Selphie as she takes the plates of desserts off her tray and places them on their table.

"That's weird. Why the sudden change in quality"? Hayner mused. "Well we used to grow our own in the enchanted greenhouse gardens with all the other foods we use but pumpkins were one of the vegetables that didn't fair so well in our soil. Plus pumpkins don't preserve as well as other foods we eat so Santa started to have them delivered to save time and space in the gardens. Not to mention the pumpkins we get delivered are of a much higher quality and are much bigger then we could ever produce".

"Really? Well do you know where they come from"? Asks a now very interested Hayner. "No I don't know, but I'm not about to look a gift reindeer in the mouth. "Say Selphie with a small smile on her face as she turns and go's back to work. "Now that is different and suspicious". Hayner says sounding very interested. "Wa? Ish owee ponkings". Asks Pence with his mouth full of pie. (Translation: Why? Its only pumpkins). Funnily enough they both understood what he said. "Think about it, how many things do we have delivered here in Christmas Town, which by the way is located in the north pole. Huh you tell me. "He finishes before taking a drink of his hot cocoa. "To be honest Hayner l would not really now. I just make toys". Says Olette digging into her own pie. "Oh yeah. Well l sure as ST. Nick am going to find out". And with that, Hayner takes off leaving his half finished cocoa and an untouched slice of pie. "...well...as long as it gives him something els to do then l guess its all frosty huh Pence"?

"le cor dis ong ther eye"! ( even more translation: I call dibs on the pie"!

* * *

"Two weeks later we find Hayner crouch behind the corner of a bakery facing the kitchen entrance. By simply asking around it was easy to find that new delivery's where made at least every month. Sneaking into the office department and checking the stock keepers notes confirmed this, so now here he was bundled up in his warmest coat with his boots, gloves scarf and hat with a flask of hot cocoa in hand on a stakeout. "now we'll see where these so called higher quality pumpkins really come from". Says Hayner with a foggy breath. It was soon approaching midnight, the cold keeping Hayner well awake, he had already drank more than half of his cocoa leased with vanilla when he heard the faint sound of something taking long strides through the deep snow. Looking up from his crouched position behind the corner of the wall, he waits and watches as the sound get lauder. Before long Hayner gets the surprised of his life when a very large wolf covered in thick silver fur rounds the corner across from him and stops in front of the bakery back entrance.

Hayners brains are again scrambled when a boy dressed in a black velvet outfit that had a fluffy white trim, steps off the back of a sled the big silver wolf had been pulling behind it. Untying a rope holding a sheet of tarp onto the sled, he removes it reveling a stack of at least two dozen pumpkins underneath. The wolf sits and looks back at the boy with bright aquamarine eyes, the boy looks up brushing spiky chocolate brown hair out of his face and gives the wolf a big toothy grin showing what looked like to be an elongated incisor. The smile even reaches his bright blue eye peeking out from an other covered by a black and white hat resembling the same kind of hat Santa wore. Ruffling the silver fur on the wolfs head with a gloved hand the boy picks up the first pumpkin on top and starts taking them one by one through the suspicious open entrance door. 20 minutes later the last of the pumpkins had been taken inside, the tarp was folded up and placed back on the sled. As the boy steps back onto the sled himself, he gives a sharp whistle signaling the wolf to go. Making a U turn the boy and wolf start back the way they came leaving sled and paw tracks in the wake.

Hayner sat still in the snow not moving and not totally believing what his eyes had just seen. Instead of solving a mystery he had just come across many more to plague his mind such as who was that boy, where did he come, why was he friends with that huge wolf, do wolfs even grow that big, where did he get the pumpkins from and why did he where such strange dark cloths. He could not just stop, go to bed and forget about everything now, not with all these new and exciting things just waiting to be found. With his heart in his throat, beating with excitement Hayner stands and begins to follow the track back to wherever they came from.


	2. Can't sleep now

Hi this is the second chapter of This World And That on Christmas day, I hope you all enjoy and a Merry Christmas to all.

* * *

Following the tracks in the snow in the woods, Hayner finds himself traveling farther then he'd ever gone from Christmas Town before and with the sun just starting to rise, he was beginning to have second thoughts about his hasty decision. Looking behind him, he feels even more doubtful as he discovers that he can't even see his town trough the trees any more. Glancing at the tracks once again he comes to a stop and rethinks his options. Right now he had three outcomes going through his head of what might happen, one: He could continue to follow after the sled until it snows again (which it dos often in Christmas town) covering up the tracks and becoming completely lost.

Two: He continued following the sled and find something new and different, something exciting something he'd never seen before. And then there was option three: Go back home where everything was safe and secure and he could continue his same job at the same workbench doing the same thing all year and every year after that...the HECK with that. He'd rather get lost then stay bored out of his mind and so, with his mind made up he turns back to the sled and paw tracks and starts again down the path he had chosen. It was approaching noon, he was beyond tired, his feet were aching despite his whole body being numb and his flask had long since been emptied. It was from his sheer will power alone that kept his eyes open and his feet walking. Coming to a clearing Hayner leans on the last tree before the circle of white snow, but before he could drop from exertion, he glances up from his lent over position on the giant evergreen and see's a large picture of a pumpkin wearing an unusual smiling face. There was other trees with other pictures, but as he was trying to solve the pumpkin mystery the pumpkin door held most of his attention for he discovered that that's what it actually was, a door.

re-energized with the excitement of his find, his still numb hands search for a way to open the door. He soon finds the protruding black rectangle in place of the faces nose to be the doors nob, and with a quick twist and a short pull he opens the door to find...nothing...just nothing but a big black void. Gripping the side of the trees trunk, he leans through the door way. "Hello...is any one in here?" receiving no reply, he looks deep into the darkness trying to see the end. From some where in the black space a breeze starts to blow out from the opened door, followed by a faint whistling. Leaning in even more to try and find any thing at all that might be the course of the sudden wind, all he could see was the still endless darkness. So you can imagine the overwhelming shock when he suddenly got a face full of dry burgundy red and golden yellow leafs that seemed to move as if they were a swarm of angry bees.

In his panic to protect his face, he thoughts his arms up around his head, thus losing his balance and falling face first through the door which closed with an echoing slam after him. The feeling of waitlessness and the wind rushing up past his body pulled his heart up into his throat. The heavy darkness had bean pierced by an ominous green light and leafs of all shapes, colors and sizes swirled all around him in his decent and if that wasn't bad enough, a faint ghastly moaning came to accompany the whistling in his ears. Short of breath, Hayner looks dawn just as the green light below brightens to an almost blindingly white.

* * *

The first thing that came back to him was sound, he could hear the faint rustling of leafs all around and then came smell. Now the leafs he could understand, but the different smell around him were some thing els altogether. where it was usually crisp from the snow with a hint of ginger bread in the background, this was more like an earthy, smoky sweet smell. (Think along the lines of burnt jack a lantern lids.)

Along with his returned feeling of touch he realized he could sluggishly move his limbs. Not knowing how long he had been unconscious, he forces his eyes open only to come face to face with an eerily smiling orange face with dark triangle eyes. With a loud yelp he quickly gets up off his side and scuttles backwards on his hands and feet. Only to realize that it is another pumpkin with a face that looked just like the strange door he fell through. looking around him, he see's many more, some with faces and some without. The ground he was sat on was a brownish grey color with a swirly pattern. "What in the name of St Nick...how is that even possible." Says Hayner as he spots a bizarre curly hill, unsteady on his feet he makes his way with some difficulty up the field of quite large pumpkins past the strange hill and through a gate on the other side. All the while taking in his new surroundings, unbeknownst to him something was watching him very intently.

while looking at an odd stone with writing on it he hears a scuffle behind him, quickly turning all he sees is a single bright blue eye before his vision again went black.

* * *

Well that's it for this chapter please R&R.

and if anyone has any suggestions on what final fantasy characters might be if they lived in Halloween Town feel free to let me know.


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